At a ceremony to honour the first batch of top executives of former National Bank of Dubai, which is now known as Emirates NBD, Shaikh Mohammed said the nation would also reward people for innovation and virtues of transparency.

“We also reward whoever shows innovation in his work to serve the country and its citizens, cohering to virtues and transparency and giving his country the utmost of his potential and innovative ideas that support our vision for the future of the country and the upcoming generations,” Shaikh Mohammed said after the honouring ceremony held at the Dubai World Trade Centre on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the bank.

Shaikh Mohammed thanked the staff of Emirates NBD for their achievements in rendering high quality banking services and their contributions to pushing the wheel of national economy to progress, in addition to financing several developmental projects and investment activities in the UAE and beyond.

Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates NBD, said the bank’s growth and success would not have been possible without the vision of Shaikh Mohammed and the wise UAE leadership over the years.

“We are also pleased that this celebration coincides with the success of the UAE in winning the bid to host World Expo 2020 in Dubai, where Emirates NBD was one of the Premier Partners supporting the bid,” Shaikh Ahmed said.

He said on the special occasion that on the celebration of the 50th anniversary of NBD as the first national bank in the UAE, the bank was honouring the chairmen, and all senior executives “as a tribute to their sincere efforts and the vital role they played over 50 years and their contribution to the development, growth and success of the bank from its inception and until now”.

NBD merged with Emirates Bank International to form Emirates NBD, a regional banking champion. Around 40 heads of the bank’s executives, their deputies and directors of the bank, which was established during the lifetime of the late Shaikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum in 1962, also were honoured at the function.

Shaikh Mohammed thanked the staff of Emirates NBD for their great achievements in rendering high-quality banking services and their contributions to pushing the wheel of the national economy to progress, in addition to financing several developmental projects and investment activities in the UAE and beyond.

Shaikh Mohammed watched a documentary about the history of the bank since its establishment and its development in Dubai before the inception of the UAE, and the bank’s contribution to the economic and banking development of the country in general.

The documentary showed that Shaikh Mohammed ordered the merging of National Bank of Dubai with Emirates Bank in 2007 to become one financial entity to be headed by Shaikh Ahmed.

Emirates NBD currently has more than 200 branches locally and globally and serves around a million clients, and is one of the most important contributors to the national economic prosperity. Also present at the ceremony were Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs; Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, Governor of the UAE Central Bank; Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Director-General of Dubai Ruler’s Court; Khalifa Saeed Suleiman, Director-General of Dubai Protocol and Hospitality; other dignitaries, economists, bankers, senior officials and relatives of the award recipients.